The Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS) are implemented through local plans. Therefore, the decision to adopt the NDSS remains at the discretion of local authorities. However, there is no readily available data on the extent to which the NDSS is adopted by English local authorities. Targeting this gap, we submitted an environmental information request to all 322 local planning authorities in England.

1. Have you adopted the Nationally Described Space Standard in your local plans or planning guidance? If so, please provide the date it was adopted. If not, do you have any plans to adopt it, and if so, by when are you planning to adopt it?

2. Do you use any alternative space standards in your local plans or planning guidance? Please provide details of the space standard in use, including the origin such as HQI.

3. If you are using space standards, do you have data on the rate of compliance for new dwellings for up to the last 10 years?

Of all contacted local authorities, 79% (n=253) responded: 37% of them (n=93) had adopted the NDSS in their local plans and policies, and a further 8% (n=21) adopted them as a design guidance in the form of a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). The number of local authorities who adopted and are planning to adopt the NDSS are shown per year in the graph below. Of the local authorities that did not adopt the NDSS, 85% (n=112) reported that they used no other space standard in their local plan or planning guidance.

We make this dataset available in the table below.